To be honest, this match was everything I was hoping for. Sure, it would have been nice for Baby E to get the win. But what I wanted was for both players to bring their A game and duke it out with some quality tennis. I also wanted Ana to stand toe to toe with Serena and gain her respect and the respect of tennis fans everywhere. Well I'm not sure if she succeeded in the latter, but I have a feeling Serena's going to tip her cap to Ana the next time they see each other in the Forty Deuce High halls.
Despite the shakey start, Ana regroup and played well. She came back from an early break to even things up in the first before eventually losing 64. She was attacking and defending really well and showed a lot of headiness in choosing when to come in to the net. After lost the first set I was really worried she'd go away. But hey, this is Ana we're talking about. She's a fighter. She continued her solid play, breaking early and holding a 4-1 lead. But then Serena went into overdrive and upped her game and her serving, reeling off five straight games for a 64 64 win. All in all, a fantastic performance by both women. Ajde!
Serena's win sets up the Final...I mean "semifinal" matchup with big sister, who dusted Lena off the court, 63 63. Poor Lena. She plays so well and then just crashes into the brick wall that arethe Sisters Williams.
Can we take some time and give some props to Coach Craig? Maybe he did something, maybe he didn't. But his presence sure is helping, no? Ana's playing with more purpose ("On my mark, unleash hell"), confidence, and calm. That last one is REALLY weirding me out. Here's what Ana said before the match:
“We have only been working together for a few weeks but I’m already really seeing the benefit. My confidence was not too good for a while but we’ve worked hard at getting that back and Craig has also made me realise just where to put tennis in my life.
“It’s a little strange to say because tennis is everything to me but it completely took over all my thoughts. When I was practicing I put everything into it and when I wasn’t I was thinking about what I should do in the next practice session. Then when I actually got out on court to play a match I was thinking about too many things.
“Craig has told me just to play my natural game which was to attack and not to get too confused with other aspects. It appears to be working so far but it’s going to be a long term thing.”
Squee!!! So happy.
Oh yeah. The other semi of this Premier tournament is Kaia Kanepi vs. Virginie Razzano.
The fuck? What the hell, Bepa? Feh!
